Directions:Students will be sampling several books during the Book Pass activity.The desks/chairs should be arranged in a circle with a different book at every seat.

Each group must select one member as the timekeeper – someone who is good at multi-tasking and has a watch (with a second hand, preferably).The timekeeper will keep track of time while still participating in the activity.

To start the activity, students should pick up the book at their seat and preview it by looking at the cover and reading the blurb on the back cover.Then students should begin reading on the first page.

After 2-3 minutes have passed, the timekeeper will say, “Stop.”Students will then write the title of that book, list the pages they read, then write a few comments about the book and whether or not they would like to read it at some point.

Once the comments are written, the timekeeper will say, “Book pass,” and all students should pass their book to the right.Students should then repeat the whole process again: Preview the book, read for 2-3 minutes, then stop and write comments.

Once students have previewed each book at their table, they will each pick one of their own comments and share with their group.

Students should be able to sample each book that is passed around in the circle.If you have 4-5 people in a group, each pass should be 3 minutes; for 7-8 people, each pass should be 2 minutes.If there are fewer than 4 people, place 2 books at each person’s seat.